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Commanding Officer

LCol Perry Rittershofer was born in Midland Ontario and grew up in that rural town located on the southern shores of Georgian Bay. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces Reserves (Militia) as a Private in 1980, joining the ranks of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters (G&SF) in Barrie, Ontario.

Upon completion of his recruit training during the summer of 1980 at CFB London, he returned to the Foresters to further his training and advancement for the next 30 plus years. As a Forester he moved up the None Commissioned Member (NCM) ranks from Private to Chief Warrant Officer. LCol Rittershofer held progressive positions in the Infantry starting from rifleman, section commander; platoon Warrant Officer, Company Quarter Master, Company Sergeant Major and having the privilege of being appointed as the G&SF’s Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) from 1997 to 2005. Following the appointment as the RSM, LCol Rittershofer commissioned from the ranks to Captain where he was employed as the 2nd in Command for B Company, Barrie, later becoming the Officer Commanding B Company. LCol Rittershofer later commanded A Company in Owen Sound as well as being the unit Operations officer for a short time. In 2011 he became the unit Adjutant and in 2014 was appointed as the Deputy Commanding Officer of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters. In his career LCol Rittershofer has participated in a Sovereignty Operation, OPERATION NARWHAL, Normal Wells, NMT, in March 2007, where he was the Senior Duty Officer, and Domestic operation, OPERATION NANOOK, Resolute Bay, Nu, in Aug 2009 where he was the Company 2nd in Command. He has also participated in field exercises conducted in Norway and the United States. LCol Rittershofer completed three overseas tours of duty, OPERATION SAFARI ROTO 9, Sudan, Nov 2009 to May 2010 as the National Support Element Operations Officer, OPERATION SATURN, UNAMID, ROTO 4, May 2010 to Sept 2010 as an Information Analysis Officer for the Force HQ and OPERATION SOPRANO, UNMISS, ROTO 5, Apr to Nov 2014 as a Military Liaison Officer.

In civilian life LCol Rittershofer has been employed for a number of automotive manufacturing companies and 2 non-automotive companies filling the roles of Project Manager, Quality Manager, Project Engineer and Manufacturing Engineer. The automotive companies he was with provided parts and assemblies to companies such as FORD, GM, Chrysler, Mercedes, BMW and Honda, with assembly plants in North America and Europe.

LCol Rittershofer is a graduate of Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology with a Manufacturing Engineering Technician – Industrial diploma. He is a graduate of the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College in Kingston.

LCol Rittershofer’s hobbies include, playing Hockey, Soccer and Golf. He also likes to spend time out doors boating, camping, and fishing. When not outside, he can be found building scale military vehicles, aircraft, and train models.

LCol Rittershofer is married to Beverly (Nee Perrault) Rittershofer for 28 years. They have two sons, William and Andrew and two grandsons Dominick and Rylan. For the past 31 years they have resided in Penetanguishene, Ontario.